The Otherworld
by inkoftwilight
Summary: "We all thought that we were safe. We settled down and tried to relax. When enemies came back, we thought we could take care of it. Now here we are, in another world. Helping our kids, who have no memory of us, live a life I prayed to keep them out of."
1. Prolouge

A/N: I really should wait to post more stories until I finish the ones I already have. But I really like this one, and I wanna try it out. Also, the bold, italic, and underlining buttons are gone, so I have to change a lot of the ways I organize the chapters. It's such a pain….

Prologue

Ridley's POV

I am now sixteen years old. Twelve years ago, when I was just four, my parents disappeared. But not just mine. Almost all the adults in my family, besides my grandma and one of my aunts, are gone. Since we were so young we have almost no memories of them. By we, I mean myself (Ridley), my younger brother (Jamie), my younger sister (Cameron), my cousin (Marissa), her younger twin siblings (Skyler and Shawn), my other cousin (Rachel), her brother (Derek), and the only one with no sibling, Jason.

None of us know much about how they disappeared. We used to always ask grandma and Aunt Ella. But they never could tell the whole story without breaking down. After a few years, we learned to leave it be. All we know is that they left to take care of something, and while they were gone World War Three erupted. It raged on for years until the Doomsday Group won and dictated the whole world. My parents never returned, and that stupid Maximum Ride and her gang never showed up to save the world. Some heroes aren't they? I guess they decided they were done trying to save us and hid away to save themselves.

I'm the oldest out of all of us, and Cameron's the youngest. I guess I should count myself as lucky, because I'm the only one with the slightest memory of our parents. Any pictures grandma or Aunt Ella might've had were taken away by the DG for whatever reason. The things that I remember I've drawn countless times and everyone always wants to see them. I remember my mom's pretty brown eyes, that flash of blond whenever Rachel and Derek's mom would run by, their dad's flashy car that he loved, colorful fireworks that one of my uncles and Aunt Ella's husband set off, my dad's rare crooked grin, Jason's mom's resemblance to my mom, except that magenta streak in her hair, that lavender sundress my aunt used to always wear, that head of curly blond hair one of my aunts had, the noticeable scars of my uncle's arms, my aunt's pretty Asian features, and Jason's dad's blue eyes that match the Caribbean sea almost perfectly. It's not a lot, and the drawings are definitely sketchy. But that doesn't stop everyone from always looking at them. They always ask if there's anything else, anything that I couldn't draw. But no matter how hard I try, there's nothing else.

What I didn't know, was that I knew more about them than I thought. All of us did. But it took crossing over to another dimension, a couple breakdowns, some deaths, a few good knocks in the head, kidnappings and torture from the DG, and saving both dimensions to figure it out.

A/N: So that's just a test run to see if there's any interest in it. I might or might not go along with it though. And I don't know if you noticed, but Star and Ratchet are together in this story. I haven't check out the newer MR fanfics, so I don't know who all backs me up on this. But I can totally see it.


	2. The Portal

**You guys like it, so I'll keep up with it. Here's chapter one! And I found the buttons! Yay! Btw, the Maximum Ride awards are up, here's the link: **.net/forum/Maximum_Writing_Awards/97395/

Chapter One: The Portal

**Ridley**

When I woke up, the birds were chirping, sunlight shone through my window, and a little butterfly flew by, not before stopping for some nectar on the flowers on the window sill. I waved at the neighbors, and then ran downstairs for a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. My family and I hurried up and ate, we couldn't wait for school. I mean, we were popular, teachers loved us, and homework was easy. My parents greeted us with cookies at the end of each day. It was perfect.

Yeah. Yeah _right_.

In my horror film called a life, that kind of morning is extinct. There's no birds chirping, no butterflies. I can't keep a goldfish, never mind flowers. You never go outside, unless absolutely necessary. You especially don't wave to neighbors. The houses are kept dull colors, like gray, and the sun rarely shines happily. I have never woken up to breakfast, probably because I wake up first. Always. And school? Don't make me laugh. (No, seriously. We're not supposed too.) At school, you get your work done. End of story. Besides, my family mostly keeps to themselves. I could count on my fingers how many people talk to us. And my Parents? They're gone. But, I already told you about that, right? But for me, this kind of life works. I keep my family from getting executed, make sure no one knows our secret, and get my homework done at the end of the day. I don't need anything else.

Right, I should probably tell you about our secret. So, Jason, the twins (Shawn and Skyler), Cameron, Jamie and I, we have wings. We can fly. Our bones our hollow and we eat more than ordinary humans. But that's not all. Rachel, she has superhuman sight and hearing. It's so sensitive, she has to wear sunglasses and headphones all the time. Her brother Derek, he has super speed. And I mean _super speed_. Like, speed of light, you-can't-see-me speed. Marissa… she was born without wings. So, she's a normal human. Probably because her mom, Ella, doesn't have wings. But we love her anyways.

I quietly walked down the stairs so not to wake anyone, which isn't hard since my footsteps are naturally silent. I went in the bathroom that was down the hall and closed the door behind me. I turned on the shower and let the warm water wash over me for a few minutes, rolling out my shoulders and letting my wings expand a bit. My wings are a deep black color, with some of the wings underneath a tawny color. That's sort of the way my hair is, black, but underneath at the roots I have brown and blond. After a little bit, I realize I can't stay in forever, and turn off the water, leaving myself in the cold air.

After I got dressed in my usual black (although Marissa and Rachel might change that) I waltzed downstairs and crossed the living room into the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and frowned. We needed to go to the store. As I was pouring myself a glass of ice water instead of milk like I planned, I heard a yawn and shuffling footsteps. Looking up, I saw my baby sister Cameron slowly coming in. She's twelve, the youngest of all of us, so really Cammie's like a sister to everyone. But some people think she's related to Jason instead of my brother Jamie and I. We both have black eyes and hair and olive skin tone. Cameron, however, has creamy skin, chocolate brown eyes, and brown hair with blonde streaks. But if you look closely, you can see the gold flecks in her eyes that all three of us have.

Cammie smiled sleepily at me so that I couldn't help but grin back. "Hey squirt."

"Morning," she said in her chirpy (ha, I cracked a joke) way.

"Want me to make some breakfast?" I asked.

She stared at me and stopped pouring the water she was fixing herself.

"…Yeah, um, want me to wake up Marissa and make _her_ cook some breakfast?"

She grinned and nodded. "Yeah!" I smiled at her enthusiasm and walked upstairs to wake up Marissa. I would have Grandma and Aunt Ella do it, but the work from midnight to four in the afternoon. _I_ certainly can't do it, so that leaves Marissa. I just hope she doesn't make me change…

**-Scene Change-**

Gladly, Marissa didn't make me change. She did put up quite a fight at getting up. After a few minutes and a short cat fight, she was, along with the others, up and in the kitchen. She fixed everyone breakfast professionally, and we were off to school. We would fly, but we couldn't risk being seen by the Doomsday Group. They'd try to force us to join, we'd refuse, and everything would explode. It's easier to just take a bus.

So here I was in History with Rachel, listening to Mr. Cornell drone on about how the DG's take over. Aggravated, I flipped my hair over my shoulder. Rachel's cold green eyes narrowed.

"The mark of WW3 started when Maximum Ride disappeared." He explained even though we've heard this story since third grade. "They searched for the One Light, knowing that they were about to attack. They arrived at the old headquarters twelve years ago today, never seen again."

We turned the page in the history books and saw a picture of them, all of them younger than me. Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, Angel, Star, Ratchet, Dylan, Maya, Kate, and Holden. None of them older than Jamie, who was fourteen. The supposed 'saviors' of the world. Until they disappeared twelve years ago. The all the schools were headed to the spot were they were last seen today, as some kind of reminder of the day that we refer to as Doomsday. When our only hope of winning the war that was out breaking was gone. The bell rang and we all headed to the bus. Rachel and I headed to the bus in silence. This wasn't just the day Maximum Ride disappeared, it was the day our parents vanished.

Our bus pulled away, and I made the mistake of looking through the grime covered window. I saw a younger kid fall and hold up the line to one of the buses. The teacher hauled them up and hit them across the face. I didn't have to be out there to know the child's cheekbone had cracked. He couldn't have been older than Cameron. Peeking a look at Rachel, I saw her tuck her blond hair behind her ear, her eyes were furious. She had seen it too. Then I made a decision.

I would find out what happened to Maximum Ride. I would find them, and force them to stop this, whether they wanted to or not.

**-Time Skip-**

Marissa, Rachel, and I hid behind a thick line of bushes and watched the group of students walk away. Slowly and quietly, we walked into the open. Rachel stood in front of us and listened.

"All clear." She announced.

Marissa skipped around here and there, searching the ground. She looked back up at me with her pale blue eyes. "What are we looking for again?"

This place was really like a dump. It was set up in a forest, but the headquarters were long since deserted. I'm pretty sure it was bombed, wreckage was strewn everywhere, and all that was left was rubble that was covered in dirt and moss. A thin layer of ash also covered the ground. I don't think anyone has been here in twelve years.

I answered Marissa's question with a shrug. "Something that looks out of place, out of date."

Then something moving in the bushes caught my eye. My head snapped to the side and I searched them cautiously. I took a few steps forward, Marissa and Rachel flanking me at either side. The moving continued and we took battle positions.

…Then Jamie, Cameron, the twins, Derek, and Jason all popped out of the bush. I held back a yell of surprise. After I recovered I gave them my death glare.

"What are you guys doing here?" My voice was sharp and demanding. "If you're caught sneaking away you'll be whipped!"

Jamie crossed his arms and met my glare with his. "So will you three. But it'll be worse, because you're older." I gritted my teeth. My baby brother was the only one who knew how to get around my authority.

I groaned. "Fine. Just stay with us and _stay quiet_." They nodded and started to search the area. After a few minutes of nothing but the sound of crunching leaves, Derek's voice rang out in the cold December air.

"I found something!" I shushed him as he held up some type of machine disk. Skyler, Cameron, and Jason all ran over.

"Go Derek!" Cameron praised. He grinned cockily.

_Way to inflate his big head_, I thought to myself. The rest of us stared to walk over to them.

"This is a dinosaur." Skyler pointed out. It did look out dated. The steel was dirty and rusted, buttons and lights covered the top of the disk.

"What do think it does?" Jason asked them. His question sparked everyone's curiosity. Derek made the mistake of pressing one of the buttons. It let out a _beep_ and sprang to life, its lights flashing. In surprise, he dropped it.

"Nice going butterfingers!" Rachel scolded. He glared at his sister.

But something was wrong. I shared a glance with Marissa. She had seen it too. A sort of ripple where the others were standing when the disk fell. But they were oblivious. Then out of nowhere, a blue and purple spiral vortex opened up behind them.

"No!" I yelled. We all broke out in a run. They screamed and a strong wind started to suck them in. The portal shimmered. It better not close! I heard footsteps in the distance. Was it an echo? Or were we caught? I never found out. The wind lifted Rachel, Marissa, Jamie, Shawn and I off our feet and into the portal.

I was weightless, not flying, but floating. It was dark. And cold. I had my leather jacket, but it didn't do much. I wasn't sure if I couldn't hear or if there was nothing to hear. My body was numb, and my brain had shut down. I couldn't process what was going on. I saw small lights appear all around me.

_Stars?_ I thought. _Am I in space?_

My thoughts were sluggish. I'm not sure how much time went by. Five minutes? Five hours? I wasn't sure. I remember after a little bit gravity kicked in, and I feel to what seemed like endless space. I could only hear my scream echoing all around. Then I blacked out.

**Ta-da! Sorry it took a little bit, schools been busy. Don't forget to spread the word about the MR awards! R&R **


	3. The Otherworld

**I've been writing most of this during Career Wheel, which is the most boring class ever. So, enjoy.**

**Ridley**

I don't know how long it was before I regained consciousness. Before I opened my eyes, I tried to collect myself.

I remember sneaking away from the school group with Marissa and Rachel. Then Jamie and the others showed up. Derek found that prehistoric looking machine, and then somehow it caused a time ripple. We were sucked in through the vortex. And now here we are.

Blazing sunlight shone on my closed eyelids. It felt like I was lying on sand. My mouth was dry, and my body was already sweating. It made me wonder how long I had been out. Bracing myself, I opened my eyes. Bright sunlight seared my eyes. I flinched and shut them tightly. I took a deep breath. Suddenly someone calling my name echoed all around.

"Ridley! Ridley! Can you here me? Are you awake?" Marissa?

I rolled over to open my eyes without going blind. My body was tight and my muscles ached when I slowly sat up. My legs felt like pudding. I wasn't up for five seconds before a strawberry blond blur tackled me back down onto the hot sand. Marissa's face was only inches from mine as she talked. Her light blue eyes were wide and freaked.

"''-." I cut her off. Did I mention Marissa rambles when she's freaked out?

"Marissa." She stopped. "Get off me."

Marissa apologized and helped me back up. I hissed under my breath as pain shot through my shoulder. I might have pulled a muscle. Rachel, Shawn, and Jamie ran up to us.

"Well finally." Rachel's tone was cold but her green eyes showed she had been worried.

I searched our surroundings. We were clearly in a desert, and it was around midday according to the sun that sat in the middle of the clear blue sky. But the alarms gong off in my head weren't from that. My eyes searched the horizon for any oncoming people. There weren't any.

I turned to the others. "Where is everyone?" Skyler, Jason, Derek, and Cammie…they were no where to be seen.

"Uh…we…don't know really." Jamie admitted.

"How can you not know where they are? They came through the same portal we did!" I snapped at him.

He matched my death glare with his own. "Maybe if you wouldn't have fainted-."

"Knock it off you two," Shawn interrupted. "We need to figure out what's going on here."

"And where we are," Marissa added.

I sighed and rubbed my temples to clear my headache. No such luck though, because coming from the south was a chorus of loud screeching. Instinctively we all turned to the noise, ready in battle positions.

I admit, my calm and cool composure failed, and my jaw dropped.

I have no idea what was coming towards us.

"…The hell?" Shawn said.

They were monsters, I could assure you that. There were about ten of them. Each was about seven feet tall, with long lanky arms that reached their knees. The skin was a purple-ish green color that made them look like walking bruises. They also walked with limps, and their heads rolled around like their necks were broken.

In summary, they weren't something nice to look at.

I started to calculate the battle in my head. There were five of us, so that would make two on each person. Depending on how strong these things were, the fight could either be easy and quick or long and bloody.

I was hoping for the first option.

"Spread out! Take two each!" I called out as I charged towards the monsters. See, these things walk as slow as a snail. I would say turtle, but they move pretty darn fast.

As soon as I was in reach, I jumped up and swung my arm to right hook one of them in their face. I grinned as its head snapped back and the creature froze. Then it screeched again and its head popped right back up into place.

_Oh yeah._ I thought to myself and ducked under one of its arms when it swung. _ Their necks are already broken._

From behind me another one appeared and used its large arm to shove me into the monster in front.

I winced as they began to shove me back and forth, probably pulling some more of the muscles in my back. I managed to pull my angel knife out of my pocket (so what if they're illegal?) and stabbed it into one of the monsters abdomen.

It screamed and side swept me with one of its arms. I yelled and flew about ten feet away, landing hard in a sand pile.

As I lay there stunned, Jamie was backing up and tripped over my body.

"Ow! Watch it idiot!" I yelled at him.

He sat up and glared. "What are you doing laying down in the middle of a _fight_?"

Marissa screamed somewhere to the right. We both stood up and looked over at her. I held back a scream as pain shot through my entire back. But I turned enough to see her being held up and being strangled by one of the monsters.

"Help her!" I commanded Jamie. He didn't argue and ran away to attack it. As the others fought, I tried my best to stand steadily. My eyes traveled around to check on the others, and I instantly knew that we couldn't last much longer. Rachel was limping to much and was bleeding from her ear and nose, Shawn was cradling his arm and had a black eye and bloody lip, I can barely walk, from what I can see Marissa is half-conscious and Jamie's trying to protect her.

Wincing, I ran over to Jamie and kicked one of the monsters in the side.

Big mistake. Turns out the monsters have very thick skin. My kick did nothing but rebound and knock me off balance. More pain shot up my leg and in my back. Another monster came behind me and grabbed a fist full of my hair. It pulled back, I screamed.

But apparently, it didn't like me screaming, because it knocked me upside the head. Dots appeared in my vision and ringing was all I heard in my ears. I felt warm blood ooze out of my skull. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jamie get swept off his feet. Marissa wasn't even awake, and she was hung upside down by her ankles.

_This is bad._ I thought as I fell to my knees. _This is really really bad_.

On the ground helpless to move, I raised my arms over my head as a monster raised an arm to strike me.

My eyes closed tight, I waited for the blow to come. Only it didn't.

My eyes opened, I looked behind me. There was a grown man there dressed in black with a large sword drawn, holding back the monster. I stared in shock as my vision blurred. I looked around and saw a few other people arrive as well. They all had weapons and were fighting the monsters with ease. For some reason, they seemed familiar to me.

But I had zero time to think about it, because I fell back to ground and passed out.

**Meanwhile…**

**Cameron**

It sucks to have wings, but not even be able to use them.

That's what ran through my head as I fell from the sky in who-knows-where feeling to numb to even fly or break my fall.

Instead I just fell helplessly, holding back a scream as I hit the grass.

I laid there in shock for a few moments as Jason, Derek, and Skyler landed around me. We all were groaning in pain. Unsteadily I slowly stood up and looked around.

Derek sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "What just happened?"

Skyler stood up and ran over next to me. "Where's the others?"

"I-I don't know," was all I said. Where were Ridley and the others?

We were in a grassland that stretched on for miles. A worn down dirt path stood out and lead far of somewhere. Over to my left there was a thick forest and beside it a group of buildings.

Jason pointed to the buildings. "We should probably head over there."

I bit my lip. "Do you think we can fly there?" My wings were growing there feelings back.

Derek looked at me like I was crazy. "No way. What if the DG sees us?"

Skyler ignored him and spread out her long, tawny wings. "I don't see the DG anywhere. Let's fly."

Jason and I both spread out our own wings. Derek stared at us.

"Alright, but if you guys can fly then I get to run." Then he grinned and sped of ahead of us with his super speed.

Skyler rolled her eyes. "Alright, let's go."

Flying always feels so amazing. I feel so free and unique, because I know that my family is the only one who can do it. Although at home, we can't fly that much at home because it's too dangerous with the Doomsday group around.

It only took a few minutes to get to the town. Really, it wasn't even a town. More like a village. We landed in the forest to avoid attention and Derek was there waiting for us. His icy blue eyes were proud.

"What took you guys so long?" he mocked.

Skyler rolled her eyes. "Don't get cocky."

" C'mon guys, let's go check out that town," I reminded him and walked out of the trees, Jason right behind me.

It wasn't much bigger then it looked in the air. We walked through the front entrance into what looked like the plaza. We nodded at the two guards that stood out front.

_That's weird_, I thought. _Why aren't there policemen or the DG out front?_

I ignored it and looked around. This town was very tiny. There were probably about fifteen or sixteen houses, a school, and a convenient store. The roads were hard packed dirt, and the houses were made out of wood and metal sheets for roofs. Out in the distance I saw a building in the hills that was probably for the Doomsday group.

"I feel like I just stepped in the sixteenth century," Skyler said as she watched a group of people walk past us.

"Excuse me! Miss? Excuse me!" I called out and waved to a woman hanging her laundry on a clothes line.

She walked over to us. "Yes?"

"Could you tell us where we are?"

She smiled. "Oh, this is the village Pacem."

I frowned and shared glances with my family.

"…Pacem? I've never heard of that before." Derek said to her.

The woman chuckled. "It's not the most well known place. But we're very lucky to be right beside the Verum headquarters." She gestured to the building in the hills.

"Verum?" Skyler asked after a short silence. "What's that?"

The woman looked at us like we turned into dinosaurs and ate everybody. "Where are your parents?"

We all stared to fidget. "Uh…"

One of the soldiers shouted loud enough for the whole village to hear. "Scatter!"

Cue utter chaos.

The woman bolted. "You kids need to hide!" She called over her shoulder at us.

Everyone was running as far away as they could, and there were people in full out battle armor beginning to invade and attack.

We were confused. We didn't know who these people were, or who was good or bad. But I had a feeling the ones with the red V crest on their armor were good.

"C'mon, we need to get out of here!" Skyler yelled and pushed us behind the store. We were running to the bushes, but not fast enough. One of the bad soldiers saw us and slashed his sword, cutting off a piece of Skyler's dirty blonde hair.

"Watch it! I did not need a haircut!" She scolded and kicked him square in the chest. The soldier surprisingly only stumbled and only angered him.

Another soldier came up from behind us and caught me in a headlock.

Jason kicked him in the ankles and knocked his helmet off. The soldier's grip loosened on me, I used that to wiggle out of his grip and turn to punch him in the face.

_They must have enhanced strength_, I thought to myself when the hit didn't faze him as much as it would've any other normal human. Skyler's hits weren't doing as much damage as they should have, either. 

In a flash, there was a boy with a sword slashing away at the soldiers to our defense. Quickly and swiftly, he found the weak spots in their armor. I winced as blood splattered on us and the soldiers fell in the ground in their pools of crimson blood.

Skyler, Derek, Jason, and I stared at the boy as he panted, his blonde hair plastered to his head with sweat. He was probably about Ridley's age.

The boy looked at each of us, the wheels in his head spinning. "Are you kids alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah we're fine."

"Where are your parents?"

Derek chose a snarky reply. "What parents?"

It didn't faze the boy. He kept eyeing us for a few more moments. It made me uncomfortable. "C'mon, I know somewhere you guys can stay."

He began to maneuver his way through the chaos, not bothering to look back and see if we following. The four of us shared glances, then hurried of after him.

**So ta-da! Chapter two. I'm the worst updater ever, I know. But reviews do speed it up. **


	4. Prospera

**This chapter's kind of boring, hence the long update. It's mostly info about the world they're in, and it was a pain to write. But it's finally finished!**

**Ridley**

When I woke up my body was aching all over. I was laying down a something soft, comfy, a bed? Before I moved, I did a recap in my mind. As I recalled what happened in the desert, my senses went on overdrive. I knew it couldn't have been a dream. My life doesn't work like that.

My eyes flashed open, and I was immediately blinded by the bright lights. I shut them and winced.

"Ridley?" A familiar voice called.

I sat up and opened my eyes, carefully this time. "Marissa?" Marissa grinned at me. I looked around our room. It looked high tech, with metal walls, tile floors, and a chrome metal door that had a keypad on the wall next to it. About ten or so beds lined on wall, each with a nightstand next to it. I laid in one, Marissa and Rachel on the one to my left and Shawn and Jamie on the other. I frowned.

"Are you guys alright?" I asked.

Jamie spoke for everyone. "You have a few bruised ribs, Rachel's ankle's sprained, Shawn's arm is broken, but nothing that won't heal in about a week, maybe two."

I nodded. "Where are we?" The others shared glances.

"Um…"

I heard the key pad beep from outside and the door slide open and closed. "I see you're finally awake."

We all turned to look at the man that came in. He was tall, dark, and wearing black armor. He had his arms crossed over his broad chest, and for a moment as I looked at him, I thought I saw a look of relief in his dark eyes. But the emotion was gone quickly, covered by a blank mask. He reminded me of Jamie.

"You saved us," I said abruptly.

The ghost of a smile played on his lips. "I guess I did."

"Who are you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes in my death glare.

"You sure are forward." He said, sounding amused. "My name's Fang." I frowned in thought. Fang…that sounds so familiar…

Jamie's eyes widened. "Fang, like, Maximum Ride's Fang?"

The shock on Fang's face confirmed it. I glared, Marissa gasped, and Rachel and Shawn gaped. Jamie…well he never really shows any emotion. Instantly Fang had his mask back, shifting his feet-into a defensive stance, I noticed- and uncrossed his arms.

"Yes, that Fang. But how would you know that?"

I crossed my arms and set my chin high. "We know because we're from Earth. You know, that place you _abandoned_ and left to the Doomsday Group."

A look of pain passed through his eyes. "We didn't abandon it. Don't act so high and mighty about something you don't even know."

"Oh, so you ran away?" I scoffed.

"Listen you little-."

Marissa gasped, looking at Fang's clenched fists. "Is that a wedding ring?" She grinned up at him. "Did you marry Maximum?"

Fang's anger subsided, now the look of pain was back. "I have to go." He said and left the room after pressing some keys on the key pad.

Marissa blinked. "What was that about?"

"Don't know," Rachel said. She turned to glare at me. "But thanks to you, you just told of the guy who saved us, and is likely to throw us back out to those monsters." 

I rolled my eyes. "I don't want help from him. He abandoned the world, remember?"

My brother glared at me. "You don't know what happened, Rid."

I glared back. "And you do?"

Marissa sighed. "Well now we don't get to ask him what's going on."

"Why did he leave when you asked him about Maximum anyways?" Shawn wondered aloud. Before anyone could answer, the door opened again.

In stepped a petite young woman with short, wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. Even though she was much older, I put the pieces together to figure out who she was.

"Sorry about Fang," the woman said. "He's not in a very good mood." She smiled sweetly. "I'm Angel. And you guys have a lot of questions."

**~ Scene Change ~**

**Cameron**

Martin, the boy who helped us, led us into a large building deep in the woods, far away from the chaos that was going on in the village. The building, Verum headquarters, as he and the other woman had called it, was nicely hidden. It was dark green and brown colors, and vines and moss had grown all over the walls. The high-tech looking door and two soldiers stationed outside it was the only giveaway that it was still in use.

Martin stepped close to one of guards and muttered in their ear. The guard nodded, looked us over, and pressed some code on the keypad to open the door. We all followed him, the others eyeing the guards warily. I was fine though. I had some gut instinct that told me the Verum were good.

The hallway was chrome and it was slightly chilly inside, but there was décor along the walls that kept the place from having a hospital feel.

Martin didn't really try to start any conversation. He had a content look on his face and didn't seem to mind the silence. I didn't either, but I was used to having Marissa always running her mouth.

Marissa, Ridley, where are they? I hope they're okay. If they were here, we probably would be finding a way back home instead of being…wherever we were.

"Where do you think he's taking us?" Jason whispered in my ear, so low only a mutant could hear. I shrugged. Jason stayed right behind me as we walked. He was so close I could feel his body heat.

A few minutes later Martin stopped at the end of the hall, and instead of going left or right walked up to another door, pressing some numbers on the keypad so it slid open. He turned and smiled at us.

"Get ready to meet my bosses guys. They'll figure out what we can do with you," he said. We followed him into the new room and the door closed silently behind us.

The room was very cozy, with a plush red carpet, beige walls, a few recliners, and a large desk with papers scattered all on top of it along with a computer monitor. There were six adults in the room, one was sitting on the desk, another leaning up against the wall, and the rest sprawled across the chairs. They all turned to us as we walked in. I blinked in surprise. These were Martin's bosses? They seemed pretty laid back to rule an army…

"These are the kids then Martin?" The one on the desk asked, her brown eyes sparkling as she smiled sweetly.

A strawberry blonde man in one of the chairs scoffed. "Who else would they be?" The woman glared at him. The man looked in our general direction, but his blue eyes were glazed over. Was he blind then?

Martin smiled and ignored the blind one. "Yes ma'am."

A woman spoke up from where she sat in another man's lap. She had a maroon streak in her brown hair. "Well introduce us then Martin."

Our escort blinked and looked at us over his shoulder. "Oh, um, well-"

Another man, this one a small brunette, laughed. "You rescued them and didn't even get their names?"

Jason stepped in front of Martin and smiled good naturally. "I'm Jason," he said. "That's Skyler, Derek, and Cameron."

After Jason introduced us, the couple sharing a seat shared a glance, and the blind one frowned. Then the man leaning against the wall spoke up. He had dark red hair, olive toned skin, and dark eyes. "Well, hello Jason. I'm Blake."

The woman on the desk continued the introduction. "I'm Nudge! That's Iggy, Holden, Maya, and Dylan. What happened to you guys? What happened to your parents? How'd y'all get here? Because it looks like you're from-"

"Nudge!" The blind one, Iggy, cut her off. Nudge glared at him again. It was light though, like she wasn't really mad at him. Their names sounded so familiar to me though…

"So where are your guys' parents?" Maya asked.

I shrugged. "We don't know. They disappeared before any of us even got a chance to know them. My sister, Ridley, remembers them a little, but she was only four when they disappeared."

"So who took care of you?" Dylan asked.

"Ridley." Skyler answered immediately. I looked at her sadly. Aunt Ella was still around, but we barely saw her or grandma, and when they were home, they really weren't. When our parents disappeared, it's like they took those two with them.

"Are you guys like, all the leaders or what?" Derek asked.

"Nope. Just the six generals." Nudge answered.

"So who's your leader?" I asked.

"She's away right now. But her name's Maximum Ride."

**~ Scene Change ~**

**Ridley**

"Prospera is very different from Earth," Angel explained. "It's much smaller, and is in an entirely different dimension; A dimension that doesn't have different religious beliefs. They have the gods and goddesses that control the land. One for each element: water, earth, fire, air, lightning, ice, light, and darkness. They used to be hidden in their designated temples at the points in the world where their magic was the strongest."

"Used to be?" Marissa asked.

"I'll get to that. Industrially, this world _was_ about as advanced as Earth. At least when we arrived."

I wanted to interrupt with a snarky comment, but I was afraid she'd storm off like Fang did (stupid bastard), so I kept my mouth shut.

"See we arrived in a time ripple. Iggy and my brother were using a machine that would get rid of the start of the Doomsday group we had chased there. But something went wrong, and it messed up something in the time paradox, sending us here."

_Was what we went through the same time ripple?_ I wondered.

_Probably_, a voice chimed in the back of my mind. I jumped slightly, forgetting for a moment that Angel had telepathic abilities.

"You could imagine what a commotion we caused. Even with magic and having gods and goddesses running their world, they didn't expect a group of mutants to just drop in. But they convinced themselves that we were sent by their gods to protect them. We doubt it, but perhaps it was fate that brought us here. When we arrived their government was unbalanced and their gods' power was weakening. We balanced their world, and adapted to magic and using weapons. For a while everything was peaceful.

"Then the Doomsday Group arrived. We didn't realize it since we didn't recognize any of them. But they snaked their way into the government when our guard was down. We couldn't voice anything because we'd have to explain how we knew them, and reveal to everyone that we were from Earth. It was too late anyways to do anything. Things just got worse from there. Nature went out of control. Freak storms appeared, random heat waves started, tsunamis, and it became way too dangerous to go out to sea. Crops dried up, droughts started, and blizzards were everywhere. It was insane. We all split up and searched the temples where the gods stayed. Only, they were gone. Vanished. Like they were never there.

"After that, the military split into two. Some of them blamed the government for what was happening, calling themselves Verum. They became a rebellion against the government, others remained loyal. They called themselves the Fides. Fang became the leader of Fides, and I'm one of his generals. Thing is, the military is now in a civil war. So while we first split three years ago, the Doomsday Group made these…concentration camps. They take the adults they say are weak and thin blooded, and no one ever sees them again. Sometimes children too. Also, monsters came out of no where and started wrecking havoc all across Prospera."

Anger boiled up inside me. "This world is in despair and you divide yourselves? What the hell is that about? That's the stupidest thing you could do!"

"It was very unwise, but if we didn't we'd destroy the military completely," Angel said evenly.

"But you said they're concentration camps now! Those are terrible! You just let them go on with them while you fight each other?" Marissa said. It was true, if you act up in our school, that's where you go. Angel opened her mouth to answer, but my brother cut her off.

"Just now, you said _if we didn't we'd destroy the military completely_. Like you were talking about yourself and the others. But during your explanation, you made it sound like it was soldiers that made you divide," said Jamie. "Which is it?"

I was baffled at how observant he was. I hadn't caught that. But we looked at Angel, and for a split second something flashed in her calm blue eyes. She knew she slipped.

"I'm going to send you all some food," she told us quickly. "You're probably starving." I was, but I wasn't about to let her get away.

"That's why Fang didn't want to talk about Maximum," Rachel said. "Because she's the leader of the Verum."

Angel's jaw tightened. She was losing her composure. "Maximum is currently MIA. So I don't think it'd be smart to mention her to Fang-or anyone really." The blond turned on her heel and left the room. It was silent for a few minutes-expect for the small hum of the machines-as we all thought about what Angel had told us. Were we really in a different world? Maximum and the others hadn't abandoned us after all?

No, of course they did. Even if they got here on accident, I'm sure they could've found a way back if they tried hard enough.

I screamed in frustration, causing everyone to turn and stare. I threw my pillow at the wall. "This is insane!"


	5. Author's Note

Hey guys.

So, you probably hate me for never updating.

Truth is, I've tried. I really have. But my heart isn't with fanfiction like it used to be. I love my stories, I really do, and I want to finish them, but I'm not focused on those right now. I don't have the motivation to write them. I'm sorry about that. There's just nothing I can do right now.

I've been writing original work a lot. I actually just finished the second draft of my first book, and posting that and another story on Wattpad. I might go back to my fanfictions eventually, because I still want to write them, but like I said, that's not where my muse is. I have so many original works just everywhere that I want to work on more.

Sorry guys, I love you all. Eventually I might finish these stories. If you don't want to wait and see, pm me and I'll give you a summary of what happens.

Link of my profile on Wattpad: user/JessicaLeann920

I love you guys. See you.


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